Just after New Year's Day in 1993, the Ventino training ground in Prato welcomed two guests from afar, Fan Zhiyi and Ma Minyu. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info Under Chen Lin's sincere invitation several times, the two of them finally made the trip. They will try out in Prato for half a month before making a decision.

When they first came to Prato, the two were first surprised by the beauty of the environment here, only a dozen kilometers away from Florence, Prato is naturally contaminated with the literary and artistic atmosphere of the city of art, and the natural idyllic scenery of Tuscany is also famous in Europe, a large area of vineyards are distributed on both sides of the road, in the distance are hills covered with green meadows, intermittently dotted with ancient castles, the Bisenchio River winds out like a blue ribbon, on both sides are the fiery red shrubs and aquatic plants unique to Italy, the river water is as clear as a jewel, You can even see reddish-brown pebbles at the bottom of the river. The scenery is so beautiful that it's easy to indulge in. This made the two people who had not been on the plane for more than ten hours and were full of fatigue couldn't help but feel refreshed, just for this beautiful scenery, it was worth running so far and again.

After arriving in the city of Prato, the two were surprised by the number of Chinese here, and they could meet a Chinese person almost casually on the street. And the streets are full of square Chinese signs, which makes the two people who don't know Italian at all feel much more relieved, at least they don't know how to open their mouths when they go to the street to buy something. It was very convenient, and it quickly became intimate with this small town.

By the time they arrived at the Vantino training base, the two had nothing to say. The quality of the turf is almost beyond the level of most domestic competition venues. The windows of the newly renovated office building are bright and clean, and the spacious staff restaurant, player locker room, shower room, gym, and massage room are all full of atmosphere. (PS: Can it not be atmospheric?) They are all factory workshops, and the floor heights are crushed over the general office buildings. ）

Afterwards, under Chen Lin's warm hospitality, the two first enjoyed an authentic Italian meal, and then went to Li Kee Restaurant in Chinatown in the evening to eat an authentic Hangzhou cuisine. Also accompanied by Zhu Guanghu, Liu Zhicai and other members of the Chinese coaching staff of the Jianlibao team and Yang Chen, the younger brother, are all mixed in the football circle and are very familiar with each other. It is even more intimate to meet in this foreign country thousands of miles away. The boss Li Yougen was also funny, and when he heard that Fan Zhiyi and Ma Minyu were both "national" players, he immediately brought up a bottle of treasured Moutai, and asked the two for a group photo, saying that they wanted to hang it in their restaurant.

Since the Chinese population in Prato are mainly Fujian and Zhejiang, most of the restaurants in Chinatown are close to that area. Ancestral home of ZJ Ningbo, Fan Zhiyi, who grew up in SH since he was a child, praised him and choked Ma Minyu, who was a sc person.

The next day, the pair met with Prato's coaching staff and most of the first-team players. After a brief introduction, the two put on the training clothes that represent the main force, which made the two who were already well-known in China quite satisfied. However, after the joint practice, the level of the Prato players surprised the two.

In order to understand each other's strength, Tsoko divided the main team evenly into two teams in the team training match, the yellow team mainly divided the offensive players: Yang Chen, Vieri, Veron, Doni, Pexotto, and the green team was divided into defensive players: Toldo, Materazzi, Fan Zhiyi, Ma Minyu, Gianni Keda and others. One attack and one defense, pierce the strongest shield with the strongest spear.

The first thing that surprised Fan Zhiyi was Yang Chen, a young general, who had almost never heard of this person's name in China before, but several times the reverse run suddenly started, so that the boss of the sky, my second child, and General Fan, who was not easily convinced, also broke out in a cold sweat, the speed really has a cheetah feeling, Fan Zhiyi was not careful at the beginning, and was formed by Yang Chen behind him to form a single knife ball, if it wasn't for Toldo's bravery, the yellow team would have opened the score. After that, Yang Chen had two beautiful volleys, which were blocked and saved by Toldo. At such a level, even some of the country's famous strikers do not have, but from the nobodies who have been in Prato for half a season, could it be that foreign football is really so advanced?

And then, when Fan Zhiyi met Vieri in a cross fill, he finally tasted the feeling of being fully suppressed, and the physical advantage that he had always been proud of was gone, and some were just out of position after being crushed by power. When Vieri half-pushed him and half-pumped a goal, even the pretentious General Fan was convinced.

And Ma Minyu was no less stimulated than Fan Zhiyi, he was on the left side of the Doni and Veron, the two best players in the Prato team in control, passing, receiving, and organizing, gave Ma Minyu a vivid lesson on how to play in the midfield. The kind of wide passing vision of the whole court in the brain, complete control of the rhythm of the game from the heart, and the unobtrusive and undragging passing response, perhaps in terms of personal skills, he is not much inferior, but this kind of consciousness cultivated since childhood is far from comparable.

In this case, Fan Zhiyi and Ma Minyu's originally somewhat impetuous hearts completely fell silent and began to take this trial seriously. Both of them belong to the few Chinese players who are willing to open their eyes to the world, and when they experience the huge gap between Chinese football and European football, they can also accept the reality. After a week of training, both of them have gained a lot.

Therefore, when Chen Lin mentioned the transfer matter to the two again, the two did not refuse as before, but said that they wanted to discuss it with their families.

Of course, this is how it should be, and the reason why the two were chosen was that Chen Lin was well thought out. Both of them have taken the initiative to play in Europe in history, especially Ma Minyu, who took the initiative to reduce his salary in order to join Perugia, proving that both of them have the awareness of taking the initiative to learn advanced European football.

And in terms of location and ability, it is exactly what Prato needs. The team's main centre-back, vice-captain Colvesi, who is 34 years old this year, has been exhausted by the intense competition of the first half of the season, and he has proposed to the club to retire after this season, and even for the rest of the season, he may find it difficult to maintain full attendance. And the CA/PA: 121/152 Fan Zhiyi can be said to be able to fight, and the backline formed by him and Materazzi can crush the strikers in the second league with physical fitness alone.

As for Ma Minyu, although his CA/PA: 108/141 is much lower than Fan Zhiyi, his characteristics are more tailored for this Prato team, Prato has Pesoto, a capable wingback on the left side, and in many cases, he is even used as a winger, his fast break, bottom cross is already a powerful tactical weapon for the team, especially after Vieri joined, it can be expected that Prato's opponents will sound the air defense alarm on the field. The problem is that once Pexoto assists, there will be a huge gap behind him, and Tsoko has arranged for Padeira, a sapper-type midfielder, to play left midfield to help solve this problem this season, but Padeira, who is used to playing in a midfield position, is not suitable for this position, and his lack of attacking means often causes the team's attacking rhythm to stagnate. And what are the characteristics of Ma Minyu? The speed is not fast, the ability to break through with the ball is not strong, but the physical strength is abundant, the defense is stronger than the attack, and there is a 45-degree cross and a long-range heavy artillery bombardment. In this way, he and Pesoto are a match made in heaven on the left side, first of all, with Pesoto, there is no need for him to break through with the ball on the left side, and his good defense and physical strength can just make up for the vacancy of Pesoto's assist, and finally, Ma Minyu's main offensive means, 45-degree crosses and heavy bombardments after cutting inside, do not overlap with Pesoto's offensive direction, but form a good complement and response.

This was confirmed by the subsequent joint training with the team, and the two were almost perfectly integrated into the team's main lineup, without any awkward feeling at all, as if they were already familiar with each other's playing characteristics. This made Fan Zhiyi and Ma Minyu also very surprised.